Two women were left with broken ribs after a man forgot to install the correct towball while towing scaffolding on his trailer near Waihola.
Electrician Brett William Reid (49), of Mosgiel, yesterday appeared for sentence before Judge Duncan Harvey in the Invercargill District Court on two charges of careless driving causing injury near Waihola on August 23 last year.
The summary of facts outlined how Reid was travelling about 90kmh on State Highway 1 north of Waihola towing a trailer loaded with scaffolding.
The inertia of the trailer snapped the safety chain connected to the vehicle and the trailer dislodged.
"The trailer crossed the centre line and collided with a vehicle heading south."
Police described the driver and the passenger in the other vehicle as "senior aged ladies".
The trailer became wedged under the front of the vehicle — disabling the steering of the other car.
"The oncoming vehicle crashed into the water table at the side of the road now melded with the trailer."
One woman in the car received three broken ribs and the other one broken rib — Reid was not injured in the accident. The other car was a write-off.
Reid told police he changed the towball to suit the appliance he was towing at the time but had inadvertently forgotten to install the correct towball for the trailer he was towing.
He was upset and remorseful.
Judge Harvey said while the women had used the word negligent to describe what had happened, he could understand how it occurred.
"Fortunately, although they were injured, they were not seriously injured," Judge Harvey said.
He decided the proper way to sentence Reid was by way of a $4000 emotional harm payment, half to each victim.
Judge Harvey also disqualified Reid from driving for six months.
